DaimlerChrysler CEO Schrempp to testify for the second time

DaimlerChrysler CEO Jürgen Schrempp is scheduled to testify today in Wimington, Delaware in the lawsuit over the merger that formed DaimlerChrysler. Schrempp has already have testified once in the trial but is being recalled for further questioning at complainant Kirk Kerkorian's request. Kirk Kerkorian, a reclusive Las Vegas casino mogul who owned nearly 14 percent of Chrysler's shares before the Daimler- Chrysler tie-up, claims Schrempp and other executives pitched the 1998 deal as a merger rather than a takeover to lower the transaction price and avoid paying Chrysler shareholders a "control premium" for their shares. He is seeking more than $1 billion in damages. In December, Schrempp defended what he has long billed as a "merger of equals" during three days of testimony. DaimlerChrysler insists the merger was one of equals and that Kerkorian only grew disgruntled when his stock price fell.